ARK II

I'm searching for a new challenge. I'm seeking something to change me. I'm looking for something to take me out of my comfort zone.

I'm a passionate person with dreams and ideals and I love to figure out life. With so much energy, I've become too comfortable, particularly in my vocation. I still adore running Events and I have learned so much in the last 18 months about interacting with people, humble assertiveness and what I respect in others. I have met some inspiring people who have watched me get married and seen me develop, but I'm beginning to feel as though my comfort is being overridden by my desire for perpetual growth and fulfilling my potential, and that by being comfortable I am losing purpose. I don't yet know whether this is a passing phase or something more serious but my heart is beginning to stray to bigger possibilities and, having chatted in depth with the Photographer, I want to try to put into words what I'm longing for.

In short, I want to be challenged and I want to make a difference. A colleague and friend of mine, back when he first met me 18 months ago, told me that he saw in me great potential and told me to make sure I used it. That has stayed with me and, alongside the part of me that doesn't want to disappoint him, I also don't want to disappoint myself or the Photographer. Particularly as a team, I can see so much potential in the Photographer and myself and we are beginning to figure out ways of enhancing what we have and ensuring that together, we make more of an impact than as individuals.

The Photographer asked me tonight "What do you mean by 'you want to be challenged and make a difference'?" I don't seriously think that one person can right every wrong in the world, and perhaps I'm being too much of an optimist and idealist about these goals and ambitions, but having thought about the people in my life that I admire and respect for what they've achieved and changed, there are a few things I want to focus on.

I want to meet amazing people. I have met some incredible people in my life. Not only people who have achieved great things, but also people who are so wise and vibrant that they challenge and inspire me. I don't just want to meet amazing people in the sense of people I like and get on with - I already have many incredible friends. I'm craving meeting new people; people who are wise and have used their time, money and skills to make a difference. People with a story to tell.

I want to see amazing things. I have been greatly blessed to have travelled a lot. I have walked paths walked in history, I have seen places of great beauty and I have marvelled at places that are not only breathtaking, but have shaped our world today. I want to do more of this; more travelling and with it, more learning. I want to take what I learn and use it to make a difference.

I want to have amazing experiences. Again, I don't simply mean I want to have fun - I adore my husband, my life and my friends - there is so much more to it. I want to experience things that challenge me, challenge my perceptions and teach me. In experiencing, I want to learn and then put what I've learned into action. And I don't want those lessons to stay just with me. I want to teach others; to challenge and inspire others as I have been challenged and inspired.

I want to use the majority of my time achieving these things, which means finding a way of interweaving them into my vocation. I want to change the world. Who doesn't? But I want to start now, with intention and purpose. When we begin thinking of starting a family I want the foundations of this change to be in place. I want to offer our children wisdom and experiences. I want to show them the world, encourage them to grow, to inspire them and to enable them. I want to give them the opportunities that my parents gave me and my sister.

When thinking of the phrase 'change the world', my mind wandered to the film Evan Almighty. God's answer to changing the world in that movie was to build an ark: Acts of Random Kindness - something I've blogged about before. So perhaps I'll begin there, by building an ARK, and see where that takes me. But this won't be the end of it. Now that I'm married there are two of us to take on the world, and I'm excited to see where we end up.

I'll let you know if and when we figure out where we're headed...

Much love,
xx